They would ask me what actors I saw in the roles. I would tell them, and they’d say “Oh that’s interesting.” And that would be the end of it.
--Elmore Leonard, in 2000, on the extent of his input for Hollywood's adaptation of his novels

Friday, June 12, 2015

Jon Talton's "High Country Nocturne"

Jon Talton's many novels include the David Mapstone Mysteries and the thriller Deadline Man. He is also a veteran journalist, including the former business editor of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Here he dreamcasts an adaptation of High Country Nocturne, the latest David Mapstone Mystery:

Authors have rich fantasy lives, so of course I have always dreamed of my novels being made into films or, in this “new golden age of television,” a TV series. One challenge is that my ideal actors “age out.”

Hence, Mapstone could have been played well by Liam Neeson or Harrison Ford. Both can handle the paradox of man of reflection/learning and man of action. Carrie-Anne Moss and Jill Hennessy might have made ideal Lindseys. But time is not on their side.

Claire Danes, without the Homeland crazy, would still make a great Lindsey.

Many people see Edward James Olmos as Peralta; again, the age problem. Also, Peralta is a big guy. Javier Bardem would be great in gravitas and emotional range — but he’s only 5’11”. Maybe camera angles could make him work. Otherwise, there’s Antonio Banderas.

Which brings us back to David Mapstone: Matthew McConaughey has potential, as does Ben Affleck — if they could play the intellectual who wears it lightly. On the other hand, this might be best served by a relative unknown as his breakout role.

“Compared to a novel, a film is like an economy pizza where there are no olives, no ham, no anchovies, no mushrooms, and all you’ve got is the dough.”
--Louis de Bernières, author of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin